I was intrigued so I did a little research. Seems the company is still in business kutkwick.com, and they are not far from me in Brunswick GA, they make WAY pricey slope mowers. This is an early version. Now pretty it isn't but unique and to me super cool for sure. SO I went to the auction Saturday and hung out for several hours before I was bored to tears. I headed home and decided to watch online. As it happens being late in the auction was a good thing, I bought it for,,,,, about $350 all fees included.

Best I can tell, it weighs just shy of 2000 pounds. The hour meter shows 669 but of course I have no idea if it works still. It looks to have been sitting for some time. Lots of interesting things about it and I haven't even gone to pick it up yet. The deck is driven by a pto shaft right off the front of the, Kohler I think, 23 hp engine. Then a belt driven hyd pump does the rest of the work. The 4 tires are shot and I have no idea what size they are. I'm afraid they will be expensive, but at least I'm in the thing for little money.

There doesn't seem to be and place on the web where these are discussed so I thought I would just post it up on my favorite tractor site. My plans are to get it going, then use it like crazy. Unfortunately I don't have any 40 degree slopes to really test it on, but at least I have some hills I can crab across and get a taste for what it can really do. I will post up here as I go along if there is any interest. Just let me know if you guys want updates.

Daniel in Ky -- So much to do, so little time!

I sure don't see how you could loose money on that unless it fell off the trailer on the way home. Nice buy. The deck appears to be in nice condition and it sure doesn't look beat up. You will have to let us know how this project comes along. That thing is built like a tank.

East Central South Dakota

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson

Thanks for the info Daniel. Funny that my two big yard tools share major components like that.

I got it started today, no real drama as far as that went. Pulled the plugs, little lube in the holes, spun it over until oil pressure came up. Then checked spark, put plugs back in and spun it over with a little spray of flammable brake clean. Started up pretty easily but only on one cylinder. Sounded fine for a one cylinder. So a compression test showed a resolute zero on the dead hole. Pulled that cylinder head expecting a stuck valve and all looked normal. I turned the flywheel by hand and saw the vale that was open move,,, then it hit me,,,, the piston didn't move. Uh oh,,, stuck my finger in there and pushed the piston further in the hole. Looks like it broke a rod, doesn't make any abnormal noises and the oil pressure seems alright so it must have broken rather cleanly and somehow isn't flailing around breaking things.

So I get to remove the lump and do an autopsy. None of that is a big deal as I get a chance to freshen everything and clean that nasty rascal up. Bad news is there are no new rods available. So I will have to find a used one or buy a core engine,,, or,,, buy some 7075 and make my own. Yeah, if I have to that's what I will do but I imagine there has to be some laying around somewhere.

The broken rod was on the side with no sheet metal on it, not sure if they ran it that way, it got too hot and overloaded the rod in tension, or they disassembled it and saw the problem and lost the sheet metal in the process. If I can't find a used shroud piece I will make another one. Of course I could just replace this lump with another one all together but where's the challenge in that.

There were a total of 3 auction tags or remnants of such on it so it's been handed around a bit, I would imagine folks trying to recover their investment.

So a bit of a project but nothing insurmountable. Good news is the tires are a popular size and not expensive at all. Well, compared to turf tires for my 720!!!!!!

I'm sure you are right about both the seat belt and the knee pads. I'm thinking they will both prove their utility when riding this thing!!! The engine is without a doubt a Kohler K582, unfortunately that's all I can come up with but I think it's enough as what I will need will be pretty generic. Ends up I need a rod and piston and they are the later Mahle pistons. The rod will likely need to be undersized as the crank will require some repair work. Looks like maybe they ran it low on oil and starved the rod of oil, the only thing that makes me wonder about that is the other rod looks perfect. SO I'm not sure why it happened but it wasn't a rod failure other than it tried to seize on the crank and that broke it and began the poo. The oil drain is some plumbing fittings which you will see in the pics and it is rattling around loose in the hole, dang pipe threads, so it was obviously leaking pretty well and the only way to fix it would have required lifting the engine. I'm guessing they just poured oil in it unless they forgot, there was certainly enough oil all over the thing for this to be plausible.

So here's my pic parade for this part:That's after the first of what will likely be many pressure washings.

Cleaner, a little.

That's another feature of the seating area, it keeps you level as you traverse the steep hillsides it's designed to cut. It also has some suspension on the seat that's adjustable to your weight.

Just so you guys know I'm still an owner and my little ugly Allis is still working, she pushed KK back in the garage today.

This is the gearbox that connects the PTO to the deck. You actually have to disassemble it like this to access the attachment to the crankshaft, odd and messy.

What we've all been waiting for,,, yep, that's broken, I could see it right away.

Not great news.

Looks like they should have run some flush through it before the last oil change. Lots of foreign material in the oil pan..... Oh wait, that's the rod, piston and wrist pin,,, and a little bit of the block.

And all blown apart ready for cleaning and repair.

I honed the cylinder where doom occurred and it will be fine, the rest of the engine looks like it only had the 669 hours it shows. No ridge in the cylinders and everything is really clean and nice, excepting the carnage of course. I found this guy for parts http://aircooledengpts.com/ Jim is his name and he was very nice to chat with. He is getting a list together for me of what it will take to put it back together. He thought he had it all on hand. That's good news, along with him saying that the K582 is typically a really good engine. I sure hope that's right!

You have to give them credit though, they installed a better than average air filter on it. I suspect that wasn't a cheap machine in it's day.

It really is a nice air filter, it's got swirling vanes in it and all. I'm guessing to help remove heavier particles so the filter doesn't have to. The ones they make now are very pricey and I can only imagine this one was up there when it was new. I'm sure you are right about that.

WOW, what about this reply I got from the company. I emailed them and asked a few silly questions and this is how they responded:

Dear Kevin:

The mower you have depicted was manufactured in the fall of 1993. It sold to the City of Natchez in late December of that year and was registered for warranty on 1/12/94.

The serial number for the machine is 51963. It was powered by a Kohler K582S 23 horsepower twin cylinder gasoline engine. The original engine specification number is 36316.

A parts manual can be obtained through our parts department. There is a charge for the manual. You will need the model and serial number to order the manual.

There is very little history on the mower. There was no warranty action noted during the warranty period. The few service calls on record dealt with identifying fluids used in the hydraulics and cutter deck right angle gear box.

A decal set is available through the parts department. This kit is complete with all identifying and safety labels.

We have parts to repair all components of the machine with the exception of the engine. I would suggest that you go on-line and check out the Kohler web site. You should be able to locate a distributor and dealership that can assist you in locating parts for the engine. The engine is cast iron and Kohler offers several options on parts to rebuild the engine.

If you should need additional information, or have other questions, please feel free to contact me at support@kutkwick.com or by calling 1-800-248-5945. I am available Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm (EST).

Sincerely,

Bert CashCustomer Support

He even figured out I gave him the wrong serial number. More impressed I could not be. Best I can tell, the deck is almost entirely made from 1/4" plate. Yeah a beast is right. If I manage to wear this out I've really done something.